When you are done with your “Friendship” poem create a poem about your family.
My friend is _____(line 1)
He/She is ____
We like to ____
We share ____
My friend is ____
My friend is ____(repeat line 1)
He/She always says ____
We don’t like ____
We both ____
My friend is ____
My friend is ____(repeat line 1)
He/She is always ____
We each ____
We want ____
My friend is ____
My friend is ____ (repeat line 1)
Welcome to Ms. Hanson’s Blog!
Today you are going to type a poem about yourself.
Step one: Complete the worksheet.
Step two: Use “control” “N” to open a new internet page, so you can refer to two pages at once.
Step three: In the right column under “Kids Links”, click on “Poem: Who Am I?”
Step four: Enter your information off your worksheet into the poem template.
Step five: Click on – Create a poem
Step six: Print your poem
Step Seven: Highlight and save your poem
Step Eight: Open the “comment” box and paste your poem in the comment box AND add your First Name ONLY.
Step Nine: Fill in identity information above the comment box and click on – “submit”
You will now be published on the internet!!
I had my first two days back in school,
preparing for the new school year. Meetings all morning in the gym, paper work in 100 degree rooms all afternoon. In honor of the teaching profession, I thought I’d start the school year off with this article (I hope I live up to it)
:
What Teachers Make, or
If things don’t work out, you can always go to law school
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com
He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about
teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.
“I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor,” he says.
“Be honest. What do you make?”
And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and butt-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you get a drink of water?
Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (jester).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a * difference! What about you?
We went to the movies today. We saw Mamma-Mia, a musical based on Abba’s music. I smiled through the whole thing. Abba was the leading pop music group of my generation. I really enjoyed the movie – I give it 5 stars ***** !!
http://www.mamma-mia.com/
True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united. - Humboldt
The last two days, my mind and body have been 
very gainfully active!
We have been helping a friend build a deck. We’ve been outside in the fresh air, measuring, cutting, hammering and fastening one piece at a time. And it has been a joy. I am both mentally and physically exhausted. This has been a great way to end my summer break.
If you want some serious inspiration, here is 75 minute u-tube video worth watching. It is titled, “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, and can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&NR=1
4 Days to Full Employment – Only three days of freedom left. I’m excited to get back to the routine. My dear daughter is too, now that she has some new clothes that she is looking forward to wearing. Sometimes it doesn’t take a whole lot to make us happy. I really like today’s quote, but I do think the people around us can make a difference. Others can be a positive support, or a negative drawback; just like we can influence others’ lives.
I love teaching and helping my students make academic 
gains! I am NOT a disgruntled employee, but I did find
this little essay humorous. This essay (that came to me
as a “forward” in my e-mail), addresses the underbelly
of the teaching profession that most people don’t think
about.
A Teacher’s Job Description
Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to go
into that room with all those kids and fill their
every waking moment with a love for learning.
Not only that, I’m supposed to instill a sense of
pride in their ethnicity, behaviorally modify
disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse
and T-shirt messages.
I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually
transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for guns
and raise their self-esteem.
I’m to teach them patriotism, good citizenship,
sportsmanship and fair play, how and where
to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and
how to apply for a job.
I am to check their heads occasionally for lice,
maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of
potential antisocial behavior, offer advice, write
letters of recommendation for student employment and
scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural
diversity of others, and, oh yeah, always make sure
that I give the girls in my class 50 percent of my
attention.
I’m required by my contract to be working on my own
time summer and evenings at my own expense toward
advance certification and a master’s degree; and
after school, I am to attend committee and faculty
meetings and participate in staff development training
to maintain my employment status.
I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such
that my very presence will awe my students into being
obedient and respectful of authority. I am to pledge
allegiance to supporting family values, a return to
the basics, and to my current administration. I am to
incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor
all Web sites while providing a personal relationship
with each student.
I am to decide who might be potentially dangerous
and/or liable to commit crimes in school or who is
possibly being abused, and I can be sent to jail for
not mentioning these suspicions.
I am to make sure all students pass the state and
federally mandated testing and all classes, whether
or not they attend school on a regular basis or
complete any of the work assigned.
Plus, I am expected to make sure that all of the
students with handicaps are guaranteed a free and
equal education, regardless of their mental or
physical handicap.
I am to communicate frequently with each student’s
parent by letter, phone, newsletter and grade card.
I’m to do all of this with just a piece of
chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board,
a 45 minute more-or-less plan time and a big smile,
all on a starting salary that qualifies my family for
food stamps in many states.
Is that all?
—And you want me to do all of this and expect me NOT
TO PRAY?
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
I took the last three days to do some training for school. I was in a class to learn a new reading and writing curriculum for our special education students, called “Language!”. The program addresses a lot of strategies – I’m very optimistic about it. The program requires 90 minutes per day. That’s a large demand of time. I’ll have to re-think how I thought I was going to be able to use my time. I’m thinking the project based learning (e.g. Wisconsin or character lessons) will be limited to one or two days per week. I’m sure I’ll work it all out. I just won’t be able to be as ambitious as I was proposing a couple of weeks ago.
Tomorrow it is back to “vacation”. We will be going shopping for my dear daughter’s school wardrobe. I’m sure she will keep us pressing on until I’m exhausted, so you may not hear from me. But don’t pay the ransom, I’ll escape somehow.
